Syria accused the United States today of committing a "terrible crime" in killing eight civilians during a helicopter attack on a Syrian farm near the border with Iraq.
Syria has said four US helicopters attacked the al-Sukkari farm in the Albou Kamal area in eastern Syria on Sunday and that US soldiers stormed a building in the area.
The United States, which accuses Syria of failing to stem the flow of al-Qaeda fighters and other insurgents into Iraq to attack US forces, has neither confirmed nor denied the incident.
"This is an outrageous raid which is against international law. It is a terrible crime. I don't know the political meaning of it. We are expecting clarifications from the Americans," Syrian Ambassador to London Sami al-Khiyami said.
Mr Khiyami said the Syrian authorities were still awaiting details from the Americans on the raid before deciding what measures to take and whether to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council.
"We are expecting clarifications. Depending what they give as reasons we will see what to do next. . . . They killed civilians. They had to admit their mistake and they have to compensate [the people] for it."
US forces in western Iraq denied that they were involved in the incident. Their denial suggested that it may have been carried out by a special unit outside the regular US command structure in Iraq.
"Four helicopters came from different directions and hovered. Two of them landed and soldiers got out and started shooting," a man who owns a farm nearby, told Reuters.
"They stayed for about four minutes and then departed," said the man, whose farm is about 300 metres from where the raid occurred. His nephew, who was on a motorcycle nearby, was hit in the hand.
Syria's foreign ministry has summoned the US charge d'affaires in Damascus to protest about the raid.
Syria has also urged the Iraqi government to carry out an immediate inquiry into the attack and to ensure that Iraq was not used for "aggression against Syria", the state news agency SANA said.
Last week Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed said Damascus "refuses to be a launching pad for threats against Iraq".
Reuters